Intervention

DEVOTION

GENESIS

INTERVENTION

Gen 16:11-16

11 The angel of the LORD also said to her: "You are now with child and you will have a son. You shall name him Ishmael, for the LORD has heard of your misery. 12 He will be a wild donkey of a man; his hand will be against everyone and everyone's hand against him, and he will live in hostility toward all his brothers."

13 She gave this name to the LORD who spoke to her: "You are the God who sees me," for she said, "I have now seen the One who sees me." 14 That is why the well was called Beer Lahai Roi; it is still there, between Kadesh and Bered. 15 So Hagar bore Abram a son, and Abram gave the name Ishmael to the son she had borne. 16 Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore him Ishmael.

NIV

History bears out that the descendants of Ishmael are in fact not part of any other culture and that although throughout time many have tried to conquer them, they remain a tribe unto themselves, nomads at times within the Arabian peninsula and today there has been records which indicate certain Arab kings were of the line of Ishmael. There are some who would insist that Muhammad also came from this same line, but there is no empirical proof. Although there may be some of the line of Ishmael who are Muslim, there are also some who are Christian. It is also true that not all Muslins come from the line of Ishmael or Abraham, as do not all Christians come from the line of Jacob or Abraham, except by adoption. If not all Muslims are from the line of Abraham, it would make perfect sense they do not serve the God of Abraham, but of one of the many other Eel, gods, as Hagar did. However, this hostility is not one of religion, although many would have us believe it is. This hostility is more rather political or geographic in nature.   But this is not the reason we are told this narrative concerning Hagar and her son Ishmael. Because Moses recorded this account he uses the word Yahweh when he says the Hagar gave a name to the Lord. Moses called him Yahweh, but the name Hagar called him or gave to him was Eel, which we have translated, “You are the God who sees me”. Yet the original word is used for any god, which Hagar being Egyptian would have had many gods. But we are to believe this is the Lord God Most High who sends some sort of messenger to Hagar. We know from other sources that many of the names of God start with El, such as El Shaddai, God almighty. But Hagar simply used Eel which would mean she may not have understood this to be the Lord God Most High. Nevertheless having seen a messenger of God, which would have never happened of the many gods she would had been familiar with, she conformed to his instructions. However she would have been aware of the God of Abraham, having lived in his household. She would have heard that the God of Abraham promised he would have countless descendants. So with the same type of promise to her son, it is very possible she considered this messenger to be from the God of Abraham, an unseen God, yet he revealed himself to her. God will always find a way to reveal himself in order to accomplish his plan. Having Abraham and Sarai taken things into their own hands may well not have been God’s plan, but he still showed mercy to Hagar and her son Ishmael. Did Hagar and Ishmael remain true to God? We will never truly know, but what do know is God moved in her life, showing mercy to her. Yet she had to go back and submit to her mistress. It is also interesting that God gave her the name of her son but we see that Abram gave him that name. this would have meant Hagar shared her experience with Abram and what the messenger told her. What do we learn for our lives from all this? The fact is God will reveal himself to all of us in order to accomplish his plan. We know his plan is that all men be saved, that none should perish.

2 Peter 3:9

9 The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish , but everyone to come to repentance.

NIV

Had God not intervened in the life of Hagar she surely would have perished, perhaps in the physical, but surely in the spiritual. Yet he did intervene and the rest is history. God intervenes in our lives today, to make sure we know he is the Lord God Most High and to accomplish his plan and purpose for our lives. First he does not want us to perish so he reveals the truth to us about Jesus Christ. He also has a plan for us and directs us to the plan, as he directed Hagar to turn back and return and submit to her mistress. He intervenes in our lives directing us to turn back from a path of perishing and to submit to our Lord and Master. In the physical, Hagar may not have desired the position she was going to have to be in by going back and submitting to her mistress. There may be times when God directs us to be a place, do something, that in the natural it would not be our choice, but when he intervenes and directs we need to follow.